Commissioner Gary Bettman is canceling games for the third time in his tenure. / Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

by Kevin M Allen, USA TODAY

by Kevin M Allen, USA TODAY

With no end in sight to the 19-day-old player lockout, the NHL has postponed its Oct. 11 opening day and canceled the first 82 games of the NHL season.

"We were extremely disappointed to have to make today's announcement," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. "The game deserves better, the fans deserve better and the people who derive income from their connection to the NHL deserve better."

The cancellation covers all games through Oct. 24, which means roughly five or six games per team have been eliminated.

"When the news came out that the league was going to start canceling (preseason) games, my 6-year-old wept and my 15-year-old sulked in his room," said Anaheim Ducks season ticket holder Marty Knowles. "But, as the weeks of no hockey have gone by, my kids have adjusted to not going to games, which is the worst possible news for the Samuelis (who own the Ducks). The main reason we purchased season seats in 2000 was that my kids loved going to the games so much."

Players will lose the first of 13 checks, meaning they have lost 7.7% of their salaries. However, they are scheduled, around the middle of the month, to receive the return of most, if not all, of the 8.5% of last season's salary that was put in escrow in case players exceeded their negotiated share of league-wide revenue.

"The decision to cancel the first two weeks of the NHL season is the unilateral choice of the NHL owners," NHL Players' Association executive director Donald Fehr said. "If the owners truly cared about the game and the fans, they would lift the lockout and allow the season to begin on time while negotiations continue."

It's up to teams to decide how to handle ticket refunds, and most are giving season ticketholders the option of receiving refunds at the end of each month for all games canceled, or to keep their money with the team and receive interest.

"I plan on returning to the Garden after this ridiculous lockout has ended unless they decide to use replacement players," Boston Bruins season ticketholder Jonathan Cowan said.

Cowan said he is taking the Bruins' offer of 3% and commitment to renew next year over the refund plan because the Bruins have offered to freeze the ticket prices for him for next season.

"Have to love the audacity of (owner Jeremy Jacobs) and the subtle hint that they'll be happy to raise your prices after the lockout," Cowan said. "Way to stick it to the fan base."

This is the third time in the past 18 years that NHL games have been canceled because of a lockout. The last time it happened, in 2004-05, the NHL eventually canceled the season. In 1994-95, the NHL ended a lockout in early January and had a 48-game season.

"A lockout should be the last resort in bargaining, not the strategy of first resort," Fehr said. "For nearly 20 years, the owners have elected to lock out the players in an effort to secure massive concessions. Nevertheless, the players remain committed to playing hockey while the parties work to reach a deal that is fair for both sides. We hope we will soon have a willing negotiating partner."

Players and owners are stalemated over the question of how to split hockey-related revenue. At the end of the collective bargaining agreement that ended Sept. 15, players were receiving 57% and owners were receiving 43%.

"This is not about 'winning' or 'losing' a negotiation," Daly said. "This is about finding a solution that preserves the long-term health and stability of the league and the game."

In their last proposal, owners offered a six-year deal with players' share starting at 49% and continuing downward to 47%. The players have said they will give owners more to help financially distressed teams, but they want to keep their current real dollars take of $1.8 billion. They have offered to give owners a greater share of the anticipated revenue growth. Players want owners to use some of that money to increase revenue sharing targeted at the troubled teams.

"My money will remain with the team," said Jay Glynn, who has been a Nashville Predators season ticketholder since 2001. "It's hard but they will get it (done) eventually anyway, so I'll support them through all of this. I don't blame one side or the other, I feel if you look at each side, there's enough blame to go around. I hate the fact that it has to come to this point. Why does it take making fans suffer before one side or the other can make their point? I don't really see how either side can win."

Knowles said he is taking a refund, which comes with 1% interest, and he said all of the fans he has talked to on the Ducks' season seat holder Facebook page are doing the same.